Summertime and New York Living
by DemiShantel
Summary: Totally AU. Characters might be a little OOC. Rachel is accepted into a summer arts program at Tisch-School of the Arts. She can't help but feel nervous being that far away from home, but she discovers that sometimes when you try new things, great things can happen. Pezberry and Faberry friendship. Fuinn and Bike.


**AN- Okay guys! So this summer, I went to a California for a summer program for 3 weeks and I thought that it would make a really good Fanfic. So pretty much everything that is happening in this story has happened to me, but it has been changed to fit this fanfic and the location. **

**Okay so this story will be a little different because it switches from journal entries to real story mode. The journal entries are in italics. Real story mode is regular font. Sometimes there will be text messages and Facebook posts and that will be in bold**_  
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**Disclaimer- I unfortunately do not own Glee. I am not lucky enough.**

_Sunday, July 1__st__ 2012 10:15 AM_

_Well I guess I should get started. Welcome! This is my online journal! My Dads, Leroy and Hiram, got me the new iPhone 4S and one of the features is a mobile app to Penzu! Obviously, it's this online journal. It's pretty cool. I've always loved keeping journals, but I never had the patience to stick with it or I always got frustrated because I hated how my handwriting looked. I'm a perfectionist. I know. So, I thought why not try it out now. It's my first day in New York for this summer arts program held at Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. I can't believe that I'm going to be here for three weeks. New York is my dream and now that's where I am, even if it's temporary. I will be able to see just how my life will be at college. Hopefully this program will increase my chances of getting accepted and being able to attend Tisch. Broadway has always been my dream and hopefully this is a step that will send me in that direction. _

_Anyway, today I had to board a plane for the first time by myself. Getting on the plane by myself wasn't so bad. I actually love planes. I don't think of it crashing or terrorist attacks or any of those horrible possibilities when I'm on them like some other people do, and I'm not at all afraid of heights. I found peace when I was up in the air looking over the world below me. Turbulence didn't bother me and usually I sleep right through it anyway. I pretty much slept the whole way there, except for the couple of Castle episodes I watched on my laptop. It was the process that scared me. I was terrified that I would get stopped in security or she would go to the wrong gate or flat out miss her flight, and of course I did get stopped in security because I was the one chosen for the random security screening. It was just my luck. I should have expected it._

_I was one of the first people to get picked up. It was actually myself and, also, one other guy named Artie Abrams. He's from Kentucky, and actually he is handicapped. Not to seem rude, but I was wondering what that process would be like for boarding a plane. I would think it would be pretty complicated. Maybe I'll Google it later. I'm quite curious now. I keep going on tangents, sorry. Anyway, Artie was very quiet, but he looked like the quiet type: glasses, suspenders, and buttoned-down collared shirts. He didn't seem anything like me and that's what scares me. When Ms. Sylvester, or Sue, the program coordinator, picked us up from the airport, he barely said anything to her or answered any of her questions. She did call him "Four eyes" and "Wheels" though, so I guess that it's understandable. I'm a very outgoing person, though, and I can be loud and abrasive. I thought joining a program like this would help me find other people like myself who would understand me. Artie doesn't seem like that guy, and now I just over heard that there are only 12 people in this whole program! That is so little! I thought there would be at least 30! It is so easy to not like any one of the twelve people, or vise versa! I don't know what I'm going to do! Maybe this trip wasn't such a good idea after all._

**Little Star: Daddy! Did you know that there are only 12 people in this program? **

**Daddy: I didn't know that, pumpkin, but what's the big deal? **

**Little Star: What if I don't make any friends? What if no one likes me! A boy named Artie flew in at the same time as me and we are on the way to the dorms, but he's really quiet! What if everyone is like that!**

**Daddy: Don't worry sweetie. You don't know how things will turn out. Wait until you meet every one else. Don't go freaking yourself out for nothing. **

**Little Star: Okay, I'll try Daddy. Thank you! Love you. Tell Dad I love him too.**

**Daddy: Love you too and will do, Star. Make sure you call us later and tell us how everything went!**

Rachel sighed and tried to get herself to relax. She was feeling a little bit better after talking to her father, but her worries were still there. People at her school didn't like her very much. She was abrasive and she could be a control freak. She knew that she wasn't the easiest person to get along with. That's what made the couple of friends she did have so amazing. They had the will power to stand her and love her for who she was. Rachel believed that she was really pushing fate by putting herself in a situation where she might not have that. She tried to focus on the music playing out the radio in the van. The music only took her attention before she started to become amazed with the view outside the car window. New York. Concrete Jungle. Big Apple. The City That Never Sleeps. It was right there in front of her eyes and it was just as beautiful as it looked in pictures. Coming from a small town in Lima, her parents were worried that the big city would be too much for her, but honestly, she liked the hustle and bustle of it all. Everyone always had somewhere to go and something to do. She looked back at Artie and saw that he was just as engrossed in the scenery as she was.

"It's amazing isn't it? I've wanted to come here since I knew what a map was." Rachel turned towards Artie who was sitting in the row behind her.

"Yeah." Artie was quiet, but Rachel could tell he is too caught up in the excitement of it all to talk to her. She wouldn't dwell on it anymore than she already had. She was going to take her father's advice and relax. She was in New York, so this trip was bound to be one she'd always remember.

They pulled up to NYU and found University Hall. That was where all the summer programs happening at the University would be held.

"Berry, you're going to be rooming with Quinn Fabray. I don't think you two will kill each other, so congrats." Sue said it without any real enthusiasm. "And Four Eyes, you will be with Kurt Hummel."

"Sue stop calling him that. I'm sorry Artie. She hasn't had her morning coffee and she's more dislikable than usual." Will Schuester, the resident adviser and van driver, said as he pulled up into the parking lot. Rachel grabbed her bags with Sue's help and carried them to her dorm.

"The girls will be in the three rooms on this side and the guys rooms are on the other side of the bathroom splitting the sides of the hall. Feel free to unpack. We will have a meeting in the common room when all of the other ankle bitters get here." She walked out of the room mumbling about how she needed money and couldn't believe the cheer camp she was supposed to be running was cancelled.

_Sunday, July 1__st__, 2012 12:30_

_Well, so far things are going quite well. The rooms in the dorms are gorgeous. They are not huge, but definitely not small. Quinn and I shouldn't be falling all over each other just trying to navigate our room or get dressed or something. The dorm has a contemporary style. It's really nice. It doesn't have much closest space, but I managed to make all my clothes fit. It was a bit of a challenge, but I am an excellent organizer. My roommate, Quinn, arrived about an hour after I did. When she walked into the room it was a little over whelming and I felt very self-conscious. She is so beautiful, like one of the prettiest girls I have ever met. She's tall (I'd say like 5'7") and supermodel thin and has short blond hair that makes her look older than 17. Looking at her was making me feel very bad about my 5'3" height, average body and Jew nose, but she turned out to be very nice. She's going to be studying dance while she's here, unlike me. I'm going to be studying Musical Theatre. I was debating between Singing and Musical Theatre, but then I just realized how silly I was being. Musical Theatre involves singing and it is my ultimate passion, so obviously that's the route I took. Quinn and I were just on our own computers separately and it was a little bit awkward because I felt like I should say something, but the awkwardness went away once Santana Lopez came in. She is beautiful too. Extremely beautiful in a more exotic way than Quinn. She's a little bit shorter than Quinn, probably 5'5" and has long blank hair to match her Latin skin color. She came in and greeted us as female dogs, but I just pretended like that was one of the most normal things in the world._

"Hey Blondie, I'm Santana." Quinn raised her perfectly arched eyebrow to challenge Santana, but neither girl was backing down.

"I prefer Barbie, but the real name is Quinn." Quinn held out her hand to shake Santana's and the latino girl just looked at her before a smile played on her lips and shook the other girl's hand.

"Hey, I'm Santana." Rachel got up from her bed to shake Santana's hand. "You're kind of a midget." Rachel's froze and her jaw dropped before she gave Santana a piece of her mind

"I resent that! I am nothing of the sort! I am 5'3" and that is 5 inches over the official height that considers someone a small person!" Rachel stomped her foot and the two other girls just froze before they started laughing. Rachel was so embarrassed. She's known these girls for not even 2 hours and she already has made a fool of herself. Her mission was to make friends and escape from the lonely, no friends lifestyle she had back home. She was kicking herself in the head for doing it so soon, but stopped when she heard Santana speak again.

"You're feisty. I like that! What's your name?"

"Rachel Berry." Santana nodded her head and smiled and officially shook the girls hands.

After the rest of the people got there. Sue came and got all of the girls while Will rounded up all of the guys to come meet up in the common room for some ice breakers. They sat on the couches and in the chairs in a circle and started out by going around the room and saying their name, grade, where they were from and what they were going to study. A girl that Rachel knew as Brittany was the first one to start.

"My name is Brittany Pierce. I'm going to be a junior. I'm from Los Angeles, California, and I'm studying dance." The circle was going clockwise and the next person was one of the guys.

"Hey, uh, I'm Mike Chang. I'm a rising senior. I'm from Pennsylvania and I'll also be studying dance."

"I'm Matt Rutheford. I'm a rising senior. I'm from New Jersey and I'm studying dance too."

"I'm Artie Abrams. I'm a rising junior. I'm from Texas and I'm going to be studying acting."

"I'm Kurt Hummel. I'm will be a junior. I'm from New York and I will be studying fashion design."

"I'm Finn Hudson. I'm gonna be a senior. I'm from New York and I'll be studying acting like Artie."

"You both are from here?" Brittany questioned them.

"Yeah, Kurt is my step brother, and so is Quinn. She's my girlfriend." Finn and Quinn smiled at each other before Brittany cut back in.

"But you guys don't look anything alike. How are you brothers?" Everyone was looking at her with their jaws slightly dropped silently hoping she was kidding, but from the innocent look she was sporting, they could tell she wasn't.

"No, sweetie. It means that they are brothers because one of their parents married the other one's parent. They are brothers by marriage, not by blood, so they wouldn't look alike." Rachel explained to the girl and Brittany seemed to understand because she was smiling and bobbing her head.

"Well, I'm Quinn Fabray. I'm a rising senior as well. Like Finn said, I'm also from here and I'll be studying dance."

"I'm Rachel Berry. I'm a rising junior. I'm from Ohio. I will be studying musical theatre."

"I'm Tina uh, Cohen-Chang. I-I um, I'm a rising junior. I'm from Kentucky and I-I'm studying musical theatre too."

"I'm Mercedes Jones. I'm from Maryland. I'm a rising junior also and I'll be studying singing."

"I'm Santana Lopez. I'm from Nevada. Las Vegas, to be exact. I'm will be a senior and I'm studying dance."

"I'm Noah Puckerman. I go by Puck. I'm from San Diego, California and I'm gonna study guitar."

_Sunday July 1__st__. 2012 8:30 PM_

_Today was a really good day. After we all went around in the circle telling about ourselves, we played two truths and a lie, which turned out to be better than it sounds. I'm not much for pointless icebreakers such as those, but it was fun. We later did one of those activities with the beach ball full of questions. It helps you learn some things about people. Apparently, one thing that Noah Puckerman hates the most is a spider and I agreed wholeheartedly with that one. I told the story of how I didn't go into my room for two days because there was a huge one loose somewhere. I also learned that Santana's favorite Halloween costume was her Catwoman suit because everyone told her she looked just like Halle Berry, and Brittany's most spectacular memory was the day that she met Britney Spears. These people are way better than I thought they would be. Quinn is one of the nicest people that I have ever met and her and Finn are adorable together (we decided to call them the Inns), Santana is kind of ruff around the edges and I'm not sure how I feel about her, but she's quite funny. She doesn't have the best patience with people and she makes fun of Mr. Schue's hair, but I'd be lying if I said it did cause me to giggle. I didn't learn much about Matt, Mike, Artie or Tina, but Mercedes was very kind and very unique. I like how different she is. She reminds me a lot of myself in that way, so I'm sure that we could become great friends. Kurt and I hit it off right off the bat. We both found that we have a love for Barbra and Judy Garland and let's not forget Idina. She also both have a celebrity crush on Taye Diggs and he thinks it is awesome that I have two gay dads. I was a little worried when Quinn overheard that little fact about me because I saw the gold cross around her neck and that was always one of the problems I dealt with at home. People tortured my family constantly because of it, but that's what we get for being a multi-religion family with homosexuals in a very small-minded Christian town. My fears soon vanished when Quinn turned to me and started asking me all about my fathers with a smile and not a hint of malice. I guess that's what happens when you grow up in New York. You become way more open-minded and accepting. Even though I don't usually notice things like this because I'm so focused on my career, as we were in the common room together, I noticed how cute the guys were. The girls all met back up in Quinn and mine's room after and we talked about it. Quinn was dating Finn obviously, but none of the other girls had boyfriends. Santana went on and on about how cute Matt was and how smoking hot Puck was. Tina, surprisingly, spoke up next about her attraction to Artie and Brittany said that she thought Mike was adorable and he would be even cuter if he could dance. She was excited to see him dance the next day at their class. Later on we all hung out in the common room and the guys taught the girls how to play poker with Puck's poker set. All of us girls too pictures of the cheat card on our phone so we would know if we actually had a hand. It was more fun then I've had in a long time. If this was how it would be for the whole time here, hanging out together, laughing and playing games, then I'm going to really like it here. I also could help but notice that Noah Puckerman is very attractive like Santana said. Gorgeous hazel eyes, a chiseled jaw and a voice that could make your heart melt, he's a musician (and maybe a singer) and his arms are lovely. _

_Rachel Barbra Berry*_

**AN- I really hope you like this story. Review review review!**_  
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